Editor: Richard (Dick) Innes
Published by: ACTS International
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Vol. 13 – No. 2611 June 25, 2011
Thought for the week: "The best way to show that a stick is crooked is not to argue about it or to spend time denouncing it, but to lay a straight stick alongside it." – D. L. Moody
I was given a most precious gift this morning when I woke up. It's a gift I never received before. It's one I can't keep, can't return, can't save, and don't know how well it will really work. I do know it's a most wonderful and beautiful gift. I hope I value and appreciate it enough to use it wisely.
That gift is "this day!" Enjoy yours, and make it a very special one.
There is a saying that life is what happens when you make other plans. We rush through life and may lose our balance between work and play, and love and laughter. No one disagrees that life is made up of the routine and of the ordinary. But then life may interrupt us when we lose a loved one or other tragedy. Things are turned upside down and we hope for a return to the routine. We'd rather enjoy a quiet Sunday, and lose track of time. Our prayer becomes "Lord, restore my life."
When we're out-of-breath, we need restoration. Grieving over a loss takes time and we don't get over it, we just get used to it. We wish for a return to normalcy and crave a period of quiet. Rest is part of restoration.
The phrase, "He restores my life" is found in the Twenty-third Psalm and it is pictured as the Shepherd who gently makes the sheep lie down and rest. The place where we lie, in lush meadows, is a place of sustenance and drink. Restoration requires rest.
Restoration is God's job, a work that cannot be done in short time spans. There are numerous steps, and the first is that God leads me on the path of His choosing for the sake of his name. Restoration also entails strength. I am strengthened while I walk that path, though it may be shadowed by uncertainty and death. However, I am not in fear of harm for He walks beside me.
Restoring my life may also mean I am tested by way of lack of provision. I may be hungry, but without food I cannot survive. This Psalm says that He prepares a nutritious meal for me in the midst of my problems. Since the word restore comes from the word for restaurant, sustenance is part of restoration. When we were hungry and thirsty, we could not foresee refreshment. A timely meal assures me that the path I walk is where God leads. He continues to provide today, and by gently pursuing me with many kindnesses, He restores my life. Jubilantly I respond: "The Lord is my shepherd."
A few years ago the psychology department of Duke University carried on an interesting experiment. They wanted to see how long rats could swim. In one container they placed a rat for which there was no possibility of escape. He swam a few moments and then ducked his head to drown. In the other container they made the hope of escape a possibility for the rat. The rat swam for several hours before finally giving up. The conclusion of the experiment was just the opposite of our common conclusion. We usually say, "As long as there is life, there is hope." The Duke experiment proved, "As long as there is hope, there is life."
Sometimes lying makes our lives easier. If you want the day off, just call in sick. If your boss asks if you've finished a report, say you left it at home. And if an irate customer calls, just make up a good cover story.
Technically these are lies, but since no one's hurt, what's the big deal?
We tell ourselves they're harmless, but are they really? Telling lies is like drunk driving. If we're lucky, we won't get caught and no one will get hurt. Still, drunk driving is wrong because it's irresponsible to recklessly endanger human life. Most lies are wrong because they recklessly endanger human relationships. What's more, lies are habit-forming. The more lies we tell, the easier it becomes, so we tell more lies.
Self-serving lies that help us get out of a jam or look better are like land mines. They may lie dormant, but sooner or later some will explode, damaging both our credibility and reputation. The ethical duty to be worthy of trust does not bend to our needs, convenience, or desire to avoid unpleasant consequences. Besides being dishonest, lying is disrespectful because it deprives the victim of true information needed to make sensible decisions.
Lies damage personal and business relationships because they generate suspicion and distrust. Once lied to, most people think, "What else will he lie to me about?" This is not a healthy basis for any relationship.
This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.
"But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me."1
In his book, Confidence, Alan Loy McGinnis talks about a famous study entitled, "Cradles of Eminence" written by Victor and Mildred Goertzel, in which the family background of 300 highly successful people were studied.
Many of the people in the study were well-known personalities including Franklin D. Roosevelt, Helen Keller, Winston Churchill, Albert Schweitzer, Gandhi, and Einstein—all of whom were brilliant in their field of expertise.
The results of this study are both surprising and very encouraging for those of us who came from a less than desirable family background and home life. For example:
"Three-quarters of the children were troubled by poverty, a broken home, or by rejecting, over-possessive or dominating parents.
"Seventy-four of the 85 writers of fiction or drama and 10 of the 20 poets came from homes where they saw tense psychological drama played out by their parents.
"Physical handicaps, such as blindness, deafness, or crippled limbs characterized over one-quarter of the sample."
These people may have had more weaknesses and handicaps than many who had a healthy upbringing, but lacked confidence. What made the difference? Perhaps, realizing they had weaknesses, they compensated for these by excelling in other areas.
One man said, "What has influenced my life more than any other single thing has been my stammer. Had I not stammered, I probably would have gone to Cambridge as my brothers did, perhaps have become a tutor, and every now and then published a dreary book about French literature." This man who stammered until his death was W. Somerset Maughan, "a world-renowned author of more than 20 books, 30 plays, and scores of essays and short stories."
It's not what we have or don't have that matters in life, but what we do with what we have. God wants us to acknowledge past hurts and grow through them. In so doing, we don't allow our past to determine our future.
Someone has wisely said, "It may be true that I have been a victim in the past, but if I remain one, I am now a willing volunteer." No matter what our background was, when we trust our lives daily to God, and work through our past hurts to resolution, we can and do have hope for the future. It's up to us what we do about the present. Once we have resolved our past hurts, we can say, as did the Apostle Paul, "One thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."2
Suggested prayer: "Dear God, help me to realize, as an adult, that while I wasn't responsible for my background, I am totally responsible for what I do about resolving all past hurts and for becoming, with your help, the person you have envisioned for me to be. Lead me always on the pathway of truth and responsibility. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus' name, amen."
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